Mumsnet users talk Best before and Use by Dates with Sainsbury’s

[EllieMumsnet]

This activity is closed

The team at Sainsbury’s would love to hear your thoughts on Best before and Use by dates for food and drinks. Do you know the difference between Best before and Use by dates? And which dates, if any, are you most likely to ignore? What foods are you most likely to bin if they’ve gone beyond their Best before date? And, more importantly, how do you use up food that’s gone beyond its Best before date – please share with us your tips! What food storage ‘rules’ do you tend to follow? And finally, how do you ensure you don’t have to throw away food?

Sainsbury’s says “We know there’s often lots of confusion around Best before and Use by dates, as well as how food should be stored properly to avoid it going to waste. So we want to hear your tips and tricks to avoid food going in the bin unnecessarily.”

Add your comment, tips and views to this thread and you will be entered into a prize draw where one winner will get a £300 Sainsbury’s voucher.

Thanks and good luck
MNHQ

Standard Insight T and Cs apply

I ignore the dates in general with both best before and use by and use my nose and eyes to judge instead. So far I have not been ill or made my children ill. I've used fresh cream 2 weeks after its use by and it tasted as fresh as it did 16 days before. With meat, I smell, look and touch it to check but, I've been known to use chicken and pork several days and even 4 days after the use by date. Cooked meats like ham, I'm probably a little more cautious but, I'll use them past the date if they smell and look okay. Eggs are sometimes weeks over their date but, always get used. Milk is sniffed and tasted if over and used if okay; slightly sour is used on cereal but, not in tea! My fridge does seem to keep food far longer than anyone else's that I know though!
If I think that something might not be used, is over the use by date but, is still 'good' in my opinion then, I'd probably throw it in the freezer. I hate waste though I confess I throw away more than I am comfortable with. I need to change this.

I often scour the reduced aisle for the items where I will often pick up fish and meat, which I will freeze on the day, and defrost on the day I need it. It means I can have a selection of great food and can plan my weeks menu. I tend to go by look and feel of fruit and vegetables and not really look at the best before and use by date, when kept in my fridge they will keep for a week after the dates on the pack. If my fruit (especially strawberries which I love) are going a bit mushy I will get out my trusty smoothie maker and either make a smoothie or freeze to make a great ice cream.

I don't tend to look at use by/ best before dates at home. If it looks ok, smells ok and is cooked properly I'm fine with that.
Eggs I find always go out of date here so I use the water test and crack into a separate bowl so I can look at it first.

I have always ignored best before and gone by use by.

In most cases this has even saved me money as supermarkets will reduce stock as it goes past it's best before even though they are perfectly fine to consume.

When I get use by they are usually highly reduced items that I freeze if not using straight away and have saved £££'s.

People worry about texture and taste changes but it is something that my family don't see a massive change in and can still make delicious meals at a lower cost.

I not only save money but I help reduce waste so it's win win for our a family as we are going to be new parents in March. Every little saving on foods bought with use by has helped us save towards baby items.

I know the difference between best before and use by but to be honest intend to go ion the look and smell of something. Ice had meat that's gone off before the use by date and meat that's been fine a couple of days after. I'm still alive
There isn't a lot of food wastage in our house. Mostly because we eat according to a meal plan (usually) so tgere isn't much extra.

With best before, the food is usually good a few weeks after often. With use by, you need to be more cautious. As long as it smells OK and has the expected texture I would consume yoghurt, cheese or other dairy past it's use by date

I work with food myself and would tend not to use anything from a supermarket past its 'use by' date as this tends to be a high risk food, plus you never know how long it's actually been on the shelf or in the depot until it's reached it's date. 'Best before' is just a guide, and it's safe to eat an item past this date but it might just impact its taste or texture. I wouldn't eat something past 'best before' if it was starting to perish though, or if it had been hanging around for a long time past this date. Think common sense is worth a lot, and buy what you need to avoid waste, plus freeze anything getting nearer these dates.

I generally stick pretty rigidly to 'Use by' dates - especially where fresh foods are concerned (fish, poultry, meat, dairy, etc) ... but 'Best Before' a lot less so. I've been known to consume products weeks, months, years after the Best Before and haven't experienced any adverse effects ... or at least I'm still here to tell the tale!

I use best before and use by dates as a guide. The rule of 'sniff' I find works best!

Veg that's gone past it's date but smells ok are usually put to good use in soups or stews.

I love buying cheap food that is on sale because it is approaching it's best before date. We tend to eat it that day or the next or freeze it. I'm a bit more lax about bread, dips and fruit and veg ( if kept in the fridge apples for instance last for months )

I completely ignore best before dates on everything.

Use by dates in meat and dairy and otherwise a sniff/taste test

I generally go by smell. You will soon know if something is off. Although I do try to be organised with what I buy do it use it within its date.

I am aware of the difference between the two different types of dates. Use by to me means that such product has to be used by this date and shouldn't be consumed after that date. Best before simply means that a product is best before this specific date but can still be consumed afterwards.
I often ignore best before dates and use my common sense to see if I feel it is still able to be eaten or drunk.
I won't necessarily bin best before products unless it is clearly mouldy or smells bad. If an item has gone past its best before date then I will consider using that more quickly so it doesn't go too much over. If it is freezable then I may freeze the product to preserve it for longer.
In terms of storage rules I try to stick to the raw meats on the bottom shelf, bread and quick meals/foods on the middle shelf of a fridge and dairy and jars on the top shelf. In the freezer I usually put chips and veg in the bottom drawer and other food products go in the other two drawers, I wouldn't say they are rules as such though, that's just what I do.
To ensure I don't have to throw away food I check dates regularly, more so on fruit and veg that goes in the fridge. I ensure we have fruits every day and veg with meals so they get used up often. I am just aware of dates really, use by dates especially and make sure the items with less date are used up first. If I can freeze a product and don't really think I will use it before its use by date then I will freeze it.

A common sense approach to best before and use by dates - you can pretty much tell if things are still good or not as the case may be - exercising more caution with foodstuffs like fish and meat. There's always the freezer for items up to date which are safe to freeze. Hate food waste in general.

Best before tells me taste etc goes downhill after this date. Use by tells me needs to be gone but If it looks and smells ok I may use an extra day

I am careful with meat freeze if I am not going to use it. After having nearly being poisoned by fish in a restaurant I am very mindful of use by dates. Salad can also hoard very dangerous bacteria so I am very careful with dates surrounding it .

I think it depends on the type of food and how it was stored. For fish, strawberries, and diary, I would stick to the best before date. For tomato puree tins, a few extra days couldn't make it bad (if package is intact).

I know you can be more flexible with best before dates rather than use by dates. However, if something is only a day or two past the use by date, smells and looks OK, I would probably eat it, but not meat or fish.

I plan meals and use a shopping list to make sure we don’t buy too much. I make lunches to take to work using up anything on the fridge. This means we don’t waste food.

I ignore best before dates and rely on common sense, if it smells and looks ok, then we eat it. I do similar with use by dates, I have eaten yoghurts 10 days past their use by date, and cheese a month past it's use by date. Fruit and veg I don't even look at the date, if it looks ok, it's eaten. I do however take more care with meat and chicken; would not eat them any more than 2 days past their use by date and fish 1 day past it's date, always smelling them just to be sure. If we aren't eating any fish/meat that I have bought, I would freeze it immediately anyway, so it's not often that I have any that's out of date. Hate food waste and the only food that regularly gets binned is bags of lettuce!!

I don't look at any dates and always use the sniff test. If it looks okay and smells okay then it's fine to eat/drink.
This is the same for milk and eggs which are always refrigerated. The meat I buy I always freeze unless I'm using straight away.

Where there's an actual Use By date I will normally aim to use the food by that date, or freeze it before the date if I don't think it will get eaten.

Best Befores I use more to prioritise things for eating but don't worry about them too much. Fruit and veg I don't even look at the dates, just at the condition, same for bread/baked goods where the tests are whether they are getting stale or dry, or any signs of mould. But for example jars of sauce or cans where the dates go several years into the future aren't going to know whether you kept them a month or two longer than the number on the side! Once in a while I check them and bring the ones which are approaching or just past their dates to the front of the cupboard, and try to use those before newer ones; but otherwise I don't much worry.

It makes a difference to me if I'm buying it - wouldn't pay full price for something that's reached its use by date. At home though I might check the date but I make a decision using my own intelligence based on look and smell.

Use by means you should not consume it after this date, mostly used for meat and fish.

Best before means it won't be dangerous to eat but the quality may deteriorate e.g a packet of biscuits.

I have a five year old so I'm quite fussy with the foods I give her in terms of following these guidelines. I also go by smell a lot.

It may also be a generational thing as I know my DM goes a lot by smell and looks and tends to ignore the dates. I'm more fussy!

As pp said, meat and fish gets frozen up to the last day on the use by label.

I love my freezer

Freeze leftover sauce/pesto/liquid in ice cube trays, then put into freezer bags. Then you only have to take out as much as you need for your next recipe.

This also works really really well with leftover veg, cook it, blend it freeze in cubes then you can add extra "hidden" veg to soups, stews, curries and casseroles.

Label everything including the date, rotate often and keep an on-going inventory of what is currently in the freezer.

Hummus can be frozen - life changing fact.

I basically never throw veg away.

Best before is just a guide - useful to know if you don't want soggy crisps or soft biscuits but I tend to ignore this for most items
Use by is more important as food like meat could be dangerous to consume after this date - we often buy food at the end of its use by date when it is reduced and either freeze it to use later or cook it straight away to consume over the next day or two or freeze it cooked.
We hardly ever throw food away as I tend to cook what we have available rather than shop for specific meal ingredients. Left over veg goes into omelettes or mixed with mashed potato and sad veg is still ok in soups and stews